Lacrosse World Championships 2002

World Championships report, 11th July 2002

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LAX Herald Thursday - July 11, 2002
The official publication of the 2002 World Lacrosse Championship

Shock as Germany down Scotland

Story and photos by Rhonda Plenty

A PUMPED up Germany took Scotland by
surprise yesterday afternoon with a clean
cut 15-9 victory.
In Germany's best game for the tournament
the conversion from man to man to
zone offensive provided a good show for
die-hard spectators.
Scotland's attack could not penetrate
Germany's smart defensive play and superior
physical preparation. Beret Dickson's
athletic ability in goals also kept Scotland's
attack in check.
Germany used the zone conversion well,
reading play and attacking the goal to gain a
ground ball advantage.
The culmination of a hard week of games
for the victors did not distract them from
achieving good ball control and offence.
Scotland was left to lament what could
have been and now have to mentally
regroup leading into their grudge match
tomorrow against arch rival England.
Scotland took advantage of play early in
the game with a goal in the first few minutes
through Martin Clarke but fell short in
the second and third periods resulting in a
German five-goal lead by half-time.
A gallant rally by Scotland in the final
period gave the scoreboard some respect but
it was too little too late with Germany's
dominance already established.
Scottish head coach Phil Collier now has
a difficult job ahead of him in preparation
for the match against old enemy England
tomorrow but will focus on fitness, attitude,
technique and strategy.

Canadians victorious in thriller

By Daniel Emerson

AUSTRALIA lost by two goals in a
thrilling encounter with Canada at the main
stadium last night in what both coaches
describe as the best game of the tournament.
Those who braved the cold were treated
to a fast, highly skilled match in which
Canada was constantly under threat, only
managing to fend off Australia in the dying
minutes.
Both teams went into the clash with two
wins and a loss apiece. Australia was brimming
with confidence after playing the best
lacrosse of their tournament in the final
quarter of Tuesday's game against the
Iroquois Nationals and scored the first goal
within a minute through James Inge.
This was all the encouragement Canada
needed, as they capitalised on offensive
blunders by the Australians to score six of
the next seven goals.
Australia shut down Canada's attack in
the second quarter, limiting their opponents
to a solitary goal, and it was only the heroic
efforts of Canadian goalie Chris Sanderson
that prevented Australia from taking the
lead at half-time.
Australia went into the second half still
trailing 7-4, but was confident after scoring
the last two goals of the first half. Canada
had all the answers, however, and Derek
Malawsky waltzed through the Australian
defence after three minutes to put the
Aussies on the back foot once again.
Canada outscored Australia four goals to
two in the third quarter but the Aussies
refused to lie down. After trailing 12-8 early
in the final term Australia scored two unanswered
goals, including a courageous solo
effort by the inspirational Gordon Purdie, to
whip the crowd into a frenzy.
The Canadian supporters cries of "oohahh
Canada" were drowned out by the
familiar "Aussie-oi" anthem as Australia
sniffed victory and an unlikely silver medal.
But two goals was as close as the professional
Canadian outfit were willing to concede.
The skill of the entire Canadian team
was typified by attacker John Grant Jr, who
fired in two final quarter goals to dash
Australia's dream of a spectacular comeback,
ending the game 14-12.

Park Buzz

POLICE Constable Andrew
Summers (pictured right) recorded
a speed of 148km/h on his
modified speed gun recently, but
did not issue any fines.
He was measuring the velocity
of lacrosse balls during the 2002
Lacrosse World Championship.
"It's very different from the
usual speeding cars and cars
don't fly straight at you,"
Constable Summers said, narrowly
avoiding injury as a ball
just missed his head.
"You just can't help but flinch
- the ball's coming straight for
your head and I had a bit of a
haircut there."
On the day German co-captain
Florian Kornprobot was credited
with the highest speed of 148
km/h while Australian co-captain
Matt Schomburg said his highest
speed was 142 km/h.
Anyone want to be a goalie?
[MT & JV]
A SPECIAL CAP to what could
be our youngest spectator at
the World Championship
games.
Cameron Leslie Brown was
born on Opening Ceremony
night and saw his first game on
Tuesday. Congratulations to
Australian midfielder Russell
Brown and his brave wife Pam.
Look for Cameron in 2022.
EVERY team at this
Championship is chasing glory -
some are just older than others.
Old Glory have gathered players
from all parts of the US to
compete in the Grand Masters
45+ Tournament and despite yesterday's
first loss, they prove age
does not diminish the competitive
spirit.
Goal freaks Scott Livie and
Kris Snider have been the attacking
stand-outs although you
could be forgiven for thinking the
team does most of their hard
work at Tentland after the game.
Trainspotters would also have
noticed the presence of Iroquois
chief Oren Lyons who adds even
more experience to a team which
has displayed fantastic lacrosse
skills and team spirit. [JV & B'OS]

Ireland leave opponents for dead

By Gemma Criddle

IRELAND remains undefeated in Green
Division after an enterprising 16-3 win over
Korea yesterday.
Ireland's Dan Daley and Pat McGee
scored nine of the 16 goals in an aggressive,
confident display that saw Ireland's midfield
dominance capitalised on throughout.
The defence of Ireland was the difference
between the sides early, frustrating the
Koreans and keeping them scoreless in the
first quarter.
The Koreans gave away some costly
early penalties, with heated midfield clashes
allowing Ireland to use its extra man advantage
to score four first-quarter goals.
The second quarter saw the Koreans
come out more focused after head coach
John Haus implored his team to calm down
during the break.
Despite two sharp goals from attackers
Cortland Kyoung-Jin Kim and Blakely
Kyoung-Soo Kim in the second period,
Ireland capitalised on their first-quarter lead
with another four goals.
Heavy showers in the third quarter
increased the tension in the hotly contested
match, but not even the weather could halt
the Irish as they piled on another four goals
to nil.
The fourth quarter saw the Irish finish off
a demoralised Korean team with some brilliant
sharpshooting from the Daley brothers.

Swedes win Euro grudge match

By Ben O'Shea

THERE are several parallels between the
development of Sweden and the Czech
Republic as lacrosse nations. Both teams
got their first world championship taste in
1994 and then in 1998, the Czech team finished
only one place ahead of the Swedish side
to cement a rivalry 10 years in the making.
Now in 2002, the stage was set for an
epic struggle, with both teams coming into
the final fixture of the Red Division roundrobin
with just one win from three games.
For those lacrosse faithful who braved the
weather, history proved a good guide as the
match was played with more ups and downs
than a rollercoaster.
Dominance of possession lead to two first
quarter goals for the Czech Republic as they
wasted no time signalling their attack plan.
A niggling Swedish defence thwarted
many Czech forward moves and created
turnovers that saw them finish the quarter
only one goal behind. The tide turned in the
second quarter as Sweden decided the best
defence was a good offence and piled on
four quick goals to take the lead, 5-3.
With the game threatening to blow wide
open, the Czech side needed something special
and it came in tthrough an Emil
Moravec goal, taking his tournament tally
to 12 and narrowing the margin to one.
Undeterred, the Swede's extended the
lead to three goals which gave them some
breathing space. Sweden switched to
defence in the last quarter and the Czech
side saw the opportunity, attacking the
Swedish defence to come up with what
looked like two goals, reducing the deficit
to one with just over a minute remaining in
the final quarter.
Hope turned to heartbreak when the
Czechs prematurely celebrated their second
goal only to have it dissallowed by the referee
who had spotted a technical penalty for
an illegal equipment breach.
Sweden saw out the tense final minute to
notch up a deserved 7-5 win.

Hong Kong chalk up first win

By Jessica Vanderende

A FREAK accident marred yesterday's
Green Division match that saw Hong Kong
avenge their previous loss to New Zealand,
winning 9-5.
New Zealand goal keeper Kevin Murphy
was stretchered off with a suspected neck
injury in the fourth quarter after a heavy
clash with two Hong Kong players.
"There was nothing illegal ... it was just a
freak accident ... it was a well played
game," umpire Bill Murphy said.
Medico Dennis Banyard said Murphy
had a minor soft tissue injury.
The first quarter saw both teams have
trouble keeping possession and mistakes
were costly with many players caught offside.
HK seemed to lack confidence and were
tentative with their passes missing several
opportunities, while the NZ players were
slow to force their way forward when they
gained possession.
HK's Christopher Kwok Keung Li scored
the first goal and they gained momentum,
going into quarter time with a slender 3-2
lead. Both teams settled down in the second
quarter and HK maintained the advantage
enabling the side to go into the second half
full of confidence.
Kin Wah Lo stepped up the pace in the
second half with some great attacking,
although HK were not able to capitalise on
their forward thrusts.

US win compounds English woes

By Tessa Heal

IT WAS billed the David-Goliath battle of
the Blue Division with the US going into
yesterday's match with three wins from
three games and England with three losses.
But it wasn't a day for the underdog as
the US won 21-3 in a demolition of the
shell-shocked English team.
The US began in damaging form, winning
every face-off and controlling play in
the offence. Two goals to Darren Lowe and
singles to Striebel, Doyle, Kevin Lowe and
Benson set up an impressive quarter-time
lead with US Michael Powell causing
headaches for the English team with hard
running and three assists.
The second quarter was a much tighter
affair with both sides scoring two goals,
highlighting the brilliant goalkeeping
work of England's
Ben McAllister, whose many
saves kept his side from certain
defeat.
The US scored five unanswered
goals in a dominant
third quarter with several
penalties and turnovers costing
England opportunities to go
forward. Nineteen-year-old
Michael Powell continued to
control the play with two
goals, his classy skills setting
up several others. Powell's two
older brothers, Casey and Ryan
are considered to be two of the best lacrosse
players in the world, but were
not included in the US team
because of Major League
Lacrosse duties. Michael has
followed in his brothers' footsteps
and has been outstanding
in the tournament so far.
With only two goals to threequarter
time, the English team
were determined to finish off
the game positively, but two
quick goals from midfielder
Doug Shanahan dashed any
hopes of an English comeback.
Paul Flowers was a ray of sunshine
on an otherwise dark day for England
and he scored late in the game to give the
band of loyal fans in the grandstand something
to cheer about. But they weren't
cheering for long. Benson found the back of
the net for the US a minute later, then goals
to Ryan McClay and another to Shanahan
ensured a fourth consecutive 21-3 win for
the world champions.
England woes continued with midfielder
Ian Cain leaving the field with a serious
knee injury. The team can only take solace
in Ben McAllister's remarkable goalkeeping.
English head coach David Elwood
praised the efforts of both McAllister and
fellow goalie Richard Smith who bravely
stood up to the US assault.

Undefeated Japan face Blue torment

By Ben Anderson

JAPAN finished the preliminary round
undefeated after a 21-8 victory over Wales.
Wet conditions kept skill levels down but
Japan's performances so far in the tournament
meant they were heavy favourites
against a spirited outfit.
The speedy Asian team scored two minutes
in when Yoshiro Suzunra netted the
first of his five goals for the match.
At quarter-time Japan was ahead 5-2 and
were looking like the only side that could
seriously trouble the fourth-placed Blue
Division team in the next round.
Masayuki Kadota scored Japan's sixth
goal 30 seconds into the second quarter and
Wales looked in danger of conceding a
record amount of goals, with Japan doubling
their opponents' score by half-time.
The third quarter again belonged to Japan
with Suzumra and Shinya Maruyama both
scoring three goals for the period.
Wales only found the back of the net
once and the match was effectively over by
three-quarter time.
A four-goal last quarter effort from Naoki
Oyoshi ensured Japan recorded a comprehensive
victory, the final margin reduced by
four late goals from Wales.
Wales' eight goals for the match were the
only surprise, doubling the average score
against Japan so far.
The Japanese team put in a disciplined
performance, committing only two penalties
for the match.
Japan head coach Makoto Sato said the
team was looking forward to its match
against the Iroquois Nationals tomorrow.
"Our goal was to win the Division and
we will be giving it our best effort against
the Iroquois," he said.